Some of us can live for over 4,000 years!

Unfortunately, it’s not an easy time to be part of a coral reef. Stressors such as climate change, ocean acidification, diseases, overfishing, sedimentation and pollution have degraded reefs around the world. Some of us fared worse than others: elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and staghorn (Acropora cervicornis), two species of reef-building corals, have declined between 92-97% since the 1970s! On top of it all, the ocean is acidifying due to increased carbon dioxide, making it harder and harder for us to build the physical structure of the reef. Thankfully, people are hard at work trying to replenish our numbers with coral reef nurseries to make sure we can stay intact for generations to come!